Photo Credit: MLS
By Steven Agen
The Seattle Sounders (0-1-1, 1pt.) earned their first point of the 2017 MLS campaign on Saturday, rescuing a draw at 2016 Eastern Conference finalists Montreal Impact (0-1-1, 1pt.). Nicolas Lodeiro converted from the penalty spot on 82′ and Will Bruin scored his first goal for Seattle with almost the last kick of the match as they came back from 2-0 down with ten minutes to play. The creativity of a potent Igancio Piatti (1 G, 1 A) had the Impact in the driver’s seat with half an hour to play but the visitors roared back through substitutes Bruin and Oniel Fisher.
Montreal took the lead on 17′. Piatti found a pocket of space in the center of the field and slipped a ball in behind the Seattle defense. The turf at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium was a remarkably quick surface, but the Argentine hit his pass with precision. Forward Matteo Mancosu ran onto the ball and rounded goalkeeper Stefan Frei before tapping home the game’s opening goal.
Sounders perked up after conceding, as they did in Houston a week ago. Jordan Morris latched onto two long balls over the top before halftime, the first poked away from him for a corner and the second placed just wide of the right-hand post. The Seattle attack looked more cohesive than it ever did against the Dynamo but failed to equalize before the break.
The Impact doubled their advantage when Piatti made the most of a Lodeiro turnover in midfield on 51′. Patrice Bernier poked the ball away from Lodeiro after he turned into trouble, and Piatti was off to the races. Neither of Chad Marshall or Roman Torres elected to step up to challenge Piatti, and he found the bottom left corner of the net from outside the area.
For at least a moment, it looked as if Piatti had distinctly gotten the better of Lodeiro in their first meeting with each other.
Seattle manager Brian Schmetzer. now faced with a two-goal deficit in the second road match in as many weeks, did everything he could to alter the setup and get Sounders back into the game. Oniel Fisher subbed on for Gustav Svensson to provide a second attacking fullback option. Henry Wingo replaced a fading Shipp.
The changes helped, but it wasn’t coming off for Seattle and they struggled for clear-cut chances.
That all changed in the 82nd minute when Laurent Ciman needlessly took Fisher down in the area. The Jamaican international posed little threat to the Montreal goal when Ciman bundled him over on the right boundary of the box. Jair Marrufo pointed to the penalty spot, and a minute later Lodeiro had matched Piatti for goals on the night. Seattle were back in it, and far too easily for Mauro Biello’s liking.
Brian Schmetzer rolled the dice once more at 2-1, subbing Bruin on for center back Roman Torres. The switch moved Seattle to a three defender system and gave Morris a strike partner for the first time on the night.
Sounders thought they had an equalizer just prior to the start of stoppage time. Morris combined brilliantly down the center of the field with Clint Dempsey, culminating in Dempsey slamming home a half volley from inside the area. Marrufo whistled the goal off for a hand ball on Morris in the build up, and it must be said that the decision was very harsh.
Still Seattle pushed on and were rewarded deep into the three minutes of additional time. Cristian Roldan skipped by his man and found a surprising amount of space on the right flank. He looked up to see a number of Sounders waiting for a cross, and picked Morris out on the far post. Morris headed the ball back across goal. Will Bruin was the first to it and he deposited it in the net with the last meaningful kick of the game. His first goal for his new club came at a vital moment, stealing a road point for the Sounders.
Despite out-shooting and out-possessing the hosts, Seattle trailed for the majority of the match and looked second-best for much of it. Their burst of energy in the last ten minutes was worth a valuable draw on this occasion, but Seattle’s front six will know they have to be more consistently dangerous in matches to contend with the top of the Western Conference this season.
A 2-2 result out of nothing isn’t a bad start.
Sounders FC
Montreal Impact
